Athens and the Acropolis
Time to catch up on some of the ports that I didn't get a chance to write about earlier.
The Acropolis, which is the entire hilltop that includes several temples and the Parthenon, was stunning. There’s a lot of restoration being undertaken to prevent the ultimate crumbling of the buildings. Oddly, it took only 9 years to build the Parthenon from scratch. But restoration has been ongoing now for over 20 years.
We had the guide from Hell. Eva found only minimal and inconsequential subjects to discuss on the long bus ride from Piraeus to Athens. But once in situ, she would herd us like cattle off the beaten path and dredge us with a lecture that found no end. At the second stop, some of us asked her where we would be meeting, and when, so we could look around a little rather than remain in one spot listening to her. She wouldn’t tell us. By the third or fourth stop, which was the acropolis, a few of us became insistent on information: where, when, tell us now! She relented and said she would need at least 45 minutes to give us the history, and we would meet at the exit at 11:30. “But if I’m late and you have to wait a long time, don’t blame me.” We hurried off to look around in peace on our own.
“Ah, some more A-2 rebels,” came a voice from the side. Another member of our tour group, A-2, had beaten a hasty retreat even before us. We shared a few moments of mutual hatred for our guide and laughing, went our separate ways.
We could walk to the little restaurant below from the Acropolis where we were treated to a delicious Greek lunch of Greek salad (of course), bread with tzatzki, moussaka, meatball, slab of steak, and spaghetti. Is that Greek too? Free wine and luckily, only 2 of the 6 at our table drank so the one bottle was just enough!
After a very satisfying lunch and no lineup to the toilets, we headed off to the museum. By now Hans and I were adamant we couldn’t be near her so inside the museum, we asked when and where to meet and toured the museum on our own.
The best part was the statuary. There were dozens in several rooms and we were allowed to take lots of photos. Below is one of either Zeus or Poseiden, historians are undecided but the preference seems to be Zeus.
This one is of Aphrodite and Pan, who is trying to seduce her and she’s defending herself with a sandal. I wonder if that worked for her?
Many of the other artefacts on display were treasures hidden away in graves filled with the shadows of lost lives.
The Acropolis, which is the entire hilltop that includes several temples and the Parthenon, was stunning. There’s a lot of restoration being undertaken to prevent the ultimate crumbling of the buildings. Oddly, it took only 9 years to build the Parthenon from scratch. But restoration has been ongoing now for over 20 years.
We had the guide from Hell. Eva found only minimal and inconsequential subjects to discuss on the long bus ride from Piraeus to Athens. But once in situ, she would herd us like cattle off the beaten path and dredge us with a lecture that found no end. At the second stop, some of us asked her where we would be meeting, and when, so we could look around a little rather than remain in one spot listening to her. She wouldn’t tell us. By the third or fourth stop, which was the acropolis, a few of us became insistent on information: where, when, tell us now! She relented and said she would need at least 45 minutes to give us the history, and we would meet at the exit at 11:30. “But if I’m late and you have to wait a long time, don’t blame me.” We hurried off to look around in peace on our own.
“Ah, some more A-2 rebels,” came a voice from the side. Another member of our tour group, A-2, had beaten a hasty retreat even before us. We shared a few moments of mutual hatred for our guide and laughing, went our separate ways.
We could walk to the little restaurant below from the Acropolis where we were treated to a delicious Greek lunch of Greek salad (of course), bread with tzatzki, moussaka, meatball, slab of steak, and spaghetti. Is that Greek too? Free wine and luckily, only 2 of the 6 at our table drank so the one bottle was just enough!
After a very satisfying lunch and no lineup to the toilets, we headed off to the museum. By now Hans and I were adamant we couldn’t be near her so inside the museum, we asked when and where to meet and toured the museum on our own.
The best part was the statuary. There were dozens in several rooms and we were allowed to take lots of photos. Below is one of either Zeus or Poseiden, historians are undecided but the preference seems to be Zeus.
This one is of Aphrodite and Pan, who is trying to seduce her and she’s defending herself with a sandal. I wonder if that worked for her?
Many of the other artefacts on display were treasures hidden away in graves filled with the shadows of lost lives.
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